WiredMonkey Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 Hey folks...I'm debating the idea of upgrading to XP SP2 sometime soon (Windows Update hasn't prompted me it's downloaded yet despite the fact I'm on broadband, so maybe it'll just take a while) and I want to make sure I have my bases covered in case there's a problem.Now, yes, I'm aware I should have been backing up LONG before this - it kept being on my "to-do" list, but I never really researched what goes into a proper back-up. So, that's why I'm picking everyones' brains now.I'm using Roxio's burning software (came with my HP laptop, and I can't remember what it's called), and I am just going to burn a Data CD of stuff. Obviously, I will be saving any documents I have created in the My Documents folder, and I have a "Downloads" folder that will get a good going over. I have stuff in My Music that I'll copy and several things in "My Photos". What else should I copy in order to ensure I have everything in the case of the need to reformat? How about emails? I use the MS Office 2003 suite and run Outlook as my email client.Let me know if you have any questions of me or perhaps there are others in the same boat and wanting to know stuff about making a good backup too. Would love to hear all about others' systems for backing up data. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nerelda Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 The program you are referring to is Roxio EZ CD Creator. I think you've got a pretty good idea of things that you want to back up already. Yes, if you would like to keep those emails, I would back them up as well. Also, what I did was backup the installation files of the programs I downloaded from the net to use.....like Zone Alarm, Adaware, Spybot S&D, AVG....just for example. This way, I can reinstall them and be protected before I connect myself back onto the internet. If you use Firefox or any other browser, don't forget to back up those installation files and your bookmarks as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tg1911 Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 I save every thing I create, in My Documents.To back up my data I burn:My DocumentsE-mail & address book (open E-mail / File / Export / address book & E-mails to a folder, then burn)Favorites (open IE / File / Import and Export... / export to a folder, then burn)I send the E-mails, address book, and favorites to a folder in My Documents called "Personal". That way when I backup My Docs I get everything.I also save all of my executables, for my programs that I've downloaded (Spybot, Ad-aware, etc...), in a file called "Installers" in My Docs. That way, you don't have to re-download all the programs you had before the reinstall.It all takes about 12 disks, but it's cheap insurance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WiredMonkey Posted August 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 Excellent - this is exactly what I had in mind. Thanks Nerelda and tg1911. I've been thinking of creating an installer disk with most of my favorite applications like Firefox, AdAware, A2, Spybot, etc. I like the ideas I've heard so far. So to get my email out, it will export just like my address book will? That's certainly helpful. I was a bit afraid it was going to be more in-depth than that. Anyone else have tips? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tg1911 Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 your welcome. Anytime. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nerelda Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 anytime! When I did my backups, I made one of those installer disks myself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
screi Posted August 28, 2004 Report Share Posted August 28, 2004 hi folks..this post brings up an issue i've been wondering about for a while..so without trying to hijack this post let me ask this..i installed a 160gb maxtor hard drive as a slave some time ago..formatted and partitioned it into 4 seperate drives..use it strictly as a backup drive for my docs..downloads..video's..even store my e-mails there..it's on it's own pci card..now i still burn the data files to cd about once a month so i have "hard" backups..but i'm wondering that if i have a major disaster and need to clean install my xp home on the c drive(which is on the original master) do i need to disconect the slave and it's pci card.. before the clean install..? if so do i just re-install it(the slave drive) after the fresh install..and are there any issues i should be aware of concerning accessing the data on this slave drive..?? after the clean install..hope i've got my question across with all that.. thanxwayne Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nerelda Posted August 28, 2004 Report Share Posted August 28, 2004 Hey Wayne, that's a good question I'm sure many people might ask the same the. If you are going to do a fresh reinstall, you do not need to disconnect any of the drives or anything. When you put in the CD to install XP, it will give you the option of which partition (or drive) you would like to install XP to. Then when it goes to do the format, it will only format the partition (or drive) you have selected. As with any reformat though, make sure you have hard backup copies of all the files on the secondary drive as well; just in case something should happen during the format/installation.Nerelda Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JSKY Posted August 28, 2004 Report Share Posted August 28, 2004 Another option, one I use. I put in a second 10G HHD. And I have 10 folders in it. (you can make as many as you want). This is where I keep my backup of everything. (reg files, e-mail addys, favorites, etc.). Also, all my downloaded programs. (AdAware, Spybot, Etc.) And one folder for drivers. It leaves me more then enough space to do a ghost Image of my system to. If you ever have major problems, or just want to do a reformat and start fresh. You have everything right there. No searching through disk or online searches for those programs you liked. (but can't seem to find anymore).Cut my time of a compleat reinstall back to what I like in half.Just remember, If you do have major problems and have to start over to diconnect your second HHD. (just in case). And to replace saved programs. (AdAware, etc.) With the lasted and greatest. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
screi Posted August 28, 2004 Report Share Posted August 28, 2004 (edited) Another option, one I use. I put in a second 10G HHD. And I have 10 folders in it. (you can make as many as you want). This is where I keep my backup of everything. (reg files, e-mail addys, favorites, etc.). Also, all my downloaded programs. (AdAware, Spybot, Etc.) And one folder for drivers. It leaves me more then enough space to do a ghost Image of my system to. If you ever have major problems, or just want to do a reformat and start fresh. You have everything right there. No searching through disk or online searches for those programs you liked. (but can't seem to find anymore).Cut my time of a compleat reinstall back to what I like in half.Just remember, If you do have major problems and have to start over to diconnect your second HHD. (just in case). And to replace saved programs. (AdAware, etc.) With the lasted and greatest.ok.that's two opinions on whether i should disconnect the second slave drive for a clean install..lol..most of the clean install instructions i've read say to disconnect all un-original stuff..printers etc..and i assume any added pci cards and attached second drives..my concern is reinstalling the second drive after re-installing xp..i would hope i would not have to format/partition this drive again and lose the data on it..given that sp2 certainly presents a clear danger of requiring a os re-install..i like to be as confident of my data back-up strategy as possible..thanxwayneto clarify..i have a 120gb original drive..with two partitions..C and D..i installed a second 160gb drive on it's own pci card and partitioned it into 4 seperate drives..this is just a slave for backup..no os installed Edited August 28, 2004 by screi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sixtooth Posted August 28, 2004 Report Share Posted August 28, 2004 Hey, I saw this board over at G4 so thought i'd stop by. Everything looks good here to me. Anyways I just thought I might add a suggestion on backups that is kind of a little thing but it helped me. I like to make a backup of registration codes for software and username/password combos to web sites. That can really be helpful when you pay bills online and one's coming soon :-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WiredMonkey Posted August 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 Thanks for the tips on everything folks. I ran my backup this weekend and so far everything looks good. I copied the My Documents folder, my Downloads folder which had a bunch of installers for programs I like, and I exported my email to a file and copied that too. The export went really quick, so I'm hoping I did it okay. It asked me to select a folder to export and I chose the Inbox since it holds all my sub-folders as well. So far so good. I did this originally in a plan to prepare for my XP SP2 migration, but since I'm on a laptop and I keep hearing of problems with laptop upgrades, I may wait... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nerelda Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 You're on a laptop?! That makes a world of a difference from my prior opinion of what you should do. I, too have heard of the many problems people have had with SP2 on their laptops. I have XP home on my laptop and do not plan to update to SP2 for at least several months when I hear that microsoft has worked on fixing many of the issues. Even then I will still be quite uneasy about doing the update. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WiredMonkey Posted August 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 Yes, I know. I'm not sure why it is that laptop owners seem to be having so many problems, but they definitely comprise a large percentage of the problem-having public I've heard about. I'm very hesitant to do it, though I'd like to make sure I'm completely covered with re: to holes in the OS and browser problems. Now, I use Firefox for just about everything (the very very rare site that won't work on Firefox or the Windows Update site are about it on IE) and I run two firewalls (ZoneAlarm plus my D-Link Router). So, I'm figuring that even though I haven't run SP2, I should still be pretty well covered. Unless someone else can think of a reason I would need it. And, does anyone else know if future updates from MS are going to require that you have SP2 first? That could be a pain in the butt if they find a problem later on down the road... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
screi Posted September 4, 2004 Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 ....Just remember, If you do have major problems and have to start over to diconnect your second HHD. (just in case). And to replace saved programs. (AdAware, etc.) With the lasted and greatest. ok.that's two opinions on whether i should disconnect the second slave drive for a clean install..lol..most of the clean install instructions i've read say to disconnect all un-original stuff..printers etc..and i assume any added pci cards and attached second drives..my concern is reinstalling the second drive after re-installing xp..i would hope i would not have to format/partition this drive again and lose the data on it..given that sp2 certainly presents a clear danger of requiring a os re-install..i like to be as confident of my data back-up strategy as possible..thanxwayneto clarify..i have a 120gb original drive..with two partitions..C and D..i installed a second 160gb drive on it's own pci card and partitioned it into 4 seperate drives..this is just a slave for backup..no os installed Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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